


The Prince and His Magician

by misunderstood_writings



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Grandparents are supportive, Human Disaster Julian Devorak, Lucio is kinda jealous, Nadia has to explain that Lucio can't get a coronation, Romance, Tasya is a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24227863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misunderstood_writings/pseuds/misunderstood_writings
Summary: After clearing his name from the title of being the Count's murderer, Julian receives a strange letter, claiming that he's the heir to a kingdom he's heard seldom of. Will he ascend to the throne or will other plans get in the way?
Relationships: Asra (The Arcana) & Reader, Julian Devorak & Portia Devorak, Julian Devorak/Original Female Character(s), Lucio/Nadia (The Arcana), Tasya (The Arcana) & You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Julian Devorak, the man who had been wrongfully accused of murdering the count and walked away unscathed; for the most part. Now that he wasn’t seen as a murderer he was able to get along with what most people would assume to be fairly normal activities. For instance, now he was currently picking up ingredients that his girlfriend had asked him to get while he was out. Most of them were harmless unless used improperly, or at least that’s what he’d been telling himself for the past hour. 

After gathering the last of the needed ingredients he made his way back to the magic shop to drop them off, but not before paying Mazelinka a brief visit. By the time that he had reached the magic shop it was already twilight, the sky painted with cool deep hues, and the lamp just outside the door was lit. Julian had stepped through the door and was met with the sight of Asra and Clover looking at an envelope on the counter. Asra turned to face him and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Julian whilst deep in thought. Clover had picked up the envelope and turned it around in her hands for a moment before handing it to Julian. 

“What’s this?” He asked as he read the front of it, it was definitely addressed to him, but it wasn’t a handwriting he recognized. He gently tore open the top to find a rather lengthy letter. Julian looked to Clover and Asra for some form of answer, figuring that one of them had written it or at least knew what it was about. 

“We figured you might have had some idea, after all you are fairly secretive when you want to be. This could be one of those times.” Asra answered, was he implying that Julian was engaging in something scandalous? Or was it just a harmless jab? “They just came by, asked if you were here, gave us that, and left. We didn’t do anything with it.”

Skimming briefly through the letter, there were three words that stuck out to him: grandparents, prince, and Hesperia. Breathing deeply before starting at the beginning and reading the letter thoroughly:

_ Dearest Grandson,  _

_ We are hoping this letter reaches you in a timely manner, your grandfather and I are in need of an heir. You and your sister are the closest living relatives in direct line to the crown. We have sent for you and your sister to be brought to Hesperia in hopes that you will be willing to ascend to the throne. We know not of your current situations and pray that you will make the right decision.  _

_ Your grandfather and I have sent a similar letter to your sister informing her of your current situation, allowing her to visit us as well and assume the title of princess. We hope that you will decide to come to us.  _

_ Queen Rosemary and King Alastair _

“So what’s it say?” Clover asked leaning on to the counter beside her slightly, watching his face as he tried to think of how to respond.

“Quick question, ascend to the throne, what does that typically mean?”

“It usually means to become a king or a queen, why?” Asra explained, furrowing his brow. He took a single step closer to Julian, craning his neck so he could attempt to see what was written on the sheet of parchment. “What does that have to do with the letter?”

Just as Julian was about to answer, Portia opened the door aggressively and practically slammed it shut, taking deep breaths as if she had run all the way from her cottage to the magic shop, which was definitely a possibility. Finally evening her breaths, she spoke, “Julian, you got the letter too, right?” He nodded and watched her closely, not wanting to say something that would discourage her enthusiasm. “We have to go, do you know what this means?”

“That we have a royal family we didn’t know about until just recently?”

Portia rolled her eyes and spoke again, “It means we still have family! It means that there is someone still out there who cares about us!” She looked to Clover and made a pained face, “No offence.”

“None taken, honestly I think this is a great idea. It would be awesome for you two to meet family that you’ve never met before.” She explained, voicing her internal monologue almost effortlessly. She looked between the two siblings to see if their faces gave away even the slightest hint as to what they were thinking. Portia was obviously overjoyed with the prospect of meeting family other than Julian, and Julian seemed to be deep in thought. “What’s wrong hon?”

Chewing on his lower lip before deciding on what to say, he averted eye contact. “I just wonder if you would be able to come with us. Seeing as how you’re practically family at this point.” Clover’s eyes widened in surprise, slightly taken aback by his words; sure they’d been together for a while but him thinking that they were that close was endearing yet startling. “I mean, it’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to and I understand-”

“Ilya you’re rambling.” Asra interrupted. 

“Right, sorry,” he corrected himself, breathing deeply before asking, “so? You wanna come?”

Clover looked to Portia to see how she felt about the whole ordeal, seeing that she was practically bursting at the seams with excitement, she nodded. It was at that point that Portia had exclaimed and pulled the three other people in the room into a group hug. 

After pulling away, Asra looked to Julian and Clover, watching the two of them engage in a conversation that consisted of mostly Julian rambling and Clover listening. The exchange between the two of them was heartwarming, or half-heartwarming more accurately. “Well if you three want to get there in a timely manner, you might want to go now.”

“Oh!” Julian exclaimed, “Right, we should probably do that then.” And the three of them split to gather their belongings for the journey ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week since they left for Hesperia, and the long ship ride was nothing glamorous. Of course it wasn’t like the pirate ships the Devoraks had been on in the past, it was much less crowded and much cleaner. At that moment Julian and Clover were below deck in their quarters, Clover watching Julian pace relentlessly back and forth with worry. “Julian, if you keep at it you’re gonna wear a hole through the floor. Come, sit by me.” Obeying her request, he moved over to the relatively small cot the two of them shared. Taking his hands into hers she spoke, “If you’re worried about what they’re going to think of you, I’m sure they’ll love you. I mean what’s not to love about you?”

“Do you want the long or short list?” Shaking her head, she laughed. Looking him in the eye waiting for him to continue. “I’m just terrified of the amount of responsibility of ruling over a kingdom, hell, I can barely make responsible choices for myself, how am I supposed to dictate what’s right and wrong for all of them?”

“Well, you may not make smart decisions when it comes to you, but when it’s someone else’s well being you tend to be pretty diligent about them.” Letting out a sigh, Julian looked to Clover, searching her face for something, not entirely sure what. “I believe in you. I’m pretty hopeful you’ll do the right thing.” 

Just then a particularly harsh movement of the ship caused the two of them to topple over onto the cot, leaving Julian leaning over Clover; blushing as if this were the first time he had been in this position with her. She pulled him into a kiss, her arms around his neck and his hands next to her shoulders. Pulling away for air, he smiled at her. As he was leaning down to place another kiss upon her lips, the door flew open. “Okay you two, you’ll have plenty of time for that later. We’re here!”

Julian and Clover looked over to see Portia in the doorway, wearing a flattering red and pale orange gown that was brought in at the waist, raising an eyebrow Julian asked, “Where’d you get that?” 

Portia twirled, flaring the skirt out with the motion, “Milady gave it as a parting gift. Although Lucio wasn’t exactly thrilled.” Clover let out a short laugh, it didn’t surprise her that Lucio didn’t like Nadia’s act of generosity towards her former head servant. “I’m gonna miss her.” 

It wasn’t a secret that Portia harbored feelings for the countess, well it wasn’t a secret to anyone except the count and countess themselves. It hurt Julian to watch his sister pine after Nadia, knowing that the feelings she had for her were more than likely weren't reciprocated. “Well, I’m sure we could arrange for visits, or something like that.” Julian assured her. 

“We can talk about that later, you need to get off this ship and into that castle.” She said as she turned to walk away, leaving Julian and Clover in their quarters alone. It didn’t take long for the two of them to untangle themselves from each other and get properly dressed. When they stepped off the ramp of the ship they were met with an elegant carriage that was pulled by two black Percherons. Standing to the side of the door was a person who wore a red overcoat with gold embellishments on the sleeves and black pants, they greeted the trio with a curt nod, “I take it that you are Mister Devorak?”

“It’s doctor.” He corrected politely, “I suppose it doesn’t really matter anymore though seeing as how I’m going through with all of this.”

“Yes, quite.” They said as they opened the door for the group to climb into the carriage, Clover and Portia getting in with little to no trouble, Julian having to almost fold himself in half to fit properly through the door. 

The carriage ride to the castle was fairly smooth, the scenery passing by at a consistent pace. The green trees and golden fields took up the biggest portion of the land. Idle chatter occupied the passengers, but did little to ease Julian of his worries. “I can’t wait to see what they look like, our grandparents I mean.” Portia said excitedly, barely able to contain herself. “It’s just so, so exhilarating!” 

Clover smiled to herself at Portia’s demeanor, however when she looked to Julian her smile faded. He looked deep in thought while gazing out the window. She watched him for a moment before speaking, “What’s wrong? Specifically.”

“Nerves, I guess. Our parents weren’t royalty, so there obviously had to have been a reason why. Not only that but if these people are who they claim to be, and actually are our family, I worry about any preconceived notions they may have of me.” He explained, leaning back into the seat and crossing his legs one over the other. 

“Julian, I want you to know that my most recent preconceived notions of you before we met were that you were a murderer.” Clover countered, hearing him hum in agreement. “But that didn’t mean that I didn’t want to get to know you, again.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” Portia asked, not so subtly listening in on Clover and her brother. “What do you mean “get to know you again”?”

The three of them felt the carriage ease to a halt. Seeing the enormous castle before them just outside the window. “I’ll explain later, right now we’ve got to get you two in there to meet your grandparents.” Watching as the same person from before opened the door for them, as they stepped out they noticed two people atop the steps leading to the grand doors of the castle, a man and a woman. 

The man had pale grey hair, a well kept beard, and was dressed in a black overcoat with plenty of medals and gold embellishments along the cuffs and hem, and white leggings. The woman had long auburn curls and wore a rather large skirted gown that matched the man’s ensemble, however she wore a golden crown encrusted with red and black gemstones. Portia pushed her shoulder into his arm and spoke, “You still doubt they’re our grandparents, Ilya?” 

Before he could speak another woman came to join the couple atop the stairs, this one younger than the two, she had waves of curly auburn hair and wore an emerald colored gown. “Oh my, if it isn’t Ilya and Pasha!” The woman said as she descended down the stairs gracefully. 

“Okay I have no idea who that is.” Portia whispered to Julian.

“I’m guessing it’s Tasya, our aunt.” He whispered back, just as he was finished straightening himself upright Tasya had gotten within arms reach of the three of them. 

“Darlings, you’ve grown so much! Ilya, you look so much like your father. And Portia, you’ve blossomed into such a beautiful young woman!” She exclaimed as she pulled the two in for a tight hug. Releasing them she spoke again, “Oh and you brought your own servant girl, how quaint.”

“Actually I-” Clover began before being interrupted by Tasya.

“Go on servant girl, go fetch us a bottle of wine.” She waited expectantly for Clover to go and do as she was told but with no such luck, the two women stood and glared at each other. “Is there something stopping you?”

“A few things actually.” She replied through gritted teeth. “The first one being-”

“Clover,” Julian started, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Please.” 

Settling for one final sneer in Tasya’s direction she moved closer to Julian’s side. “Sweeties, if we could at the very least take this inside.” The elder woman spoke, getting the attention of everyone around her. Her voice was smooth and eloquent, like an ocean; calming yet forceful. “Come now, shan't make this take longer than it must.”

The small gathering followed into the grand entrance hall of the castle, there was a fairly large number of servants rushing around doing a variety of tasks, however there was one servant who stood squarely in front of the doors. Her long black hair was up in a simple ponytail, her hands hidden behind her lithe figure, and her short stature very obvious amongst the organized chaos. 

The queen gestured to her with an open palm, “Ilya, this is Aria, your personal servant.” He watched as her face lit up when mentioned. 

“I don’t think that’s really necessary.” He said as he turned to the older woman, “I think I can take care of myself fairly well.” 

“Think of her as a gift, from us to you, to help you grow more accustomed to living like royalty.” The queen explained before turning to Aria to speak, “Take them to their rooms and have Ilya put into something more fitting for dinner this evening.”

She nodded and motioned for the group to follow her up the stairs, speaking to them as they walked, “Your majesty, it’s an honor to have finally met you and your mistress.”

The comment startled Clover but got a chuckle from Julian. “I’m sorry, his what?”

“His mistress,” Aria said as she opened the door to Portia’s room, allowing her to explore it for herself. “That is what you are, are you not? I figured that his majesty would be wed by now and you don’t seem to be the type who would marry royalty.”

Merely watching the exchange, Julian tried to stifle a laugh behind his gloved hand. Clover shook her head in confusion before remembering that they must’ve thought Julian had been known to be royalty. “I- uh, he wasn’t royalty when I met him.”

“What was he then?”

“Depends on which time I’m thinking about.” Her answer throwing Aria for a loop and causing Julian to furrow his brow in confusion before he nodded in realization. “It’s a long story I’ll explain later.”

“So you aren’t his mistress?”

“No.” She answered before walking into the large bedroom, the windows giving a perfect view of the gardens below. The bed was large enough for six people and looked very inviting after the trip they’d had. “So what’s this dinner Julian needs to get ready for?”


	3. Chapter 3

Aria had spent the last ten minutes trying to get Julian sufficiently undressed to change into his dinner wear, assuming that it would even fit him. Clover was sitting on the bed watching the small woman attempt to goad him out of his clothes. So far she had only been able to talk him out of his overcoat, gloves, and boots. “Do you want to try, milady?”

“Julian take off your shirt and pants, you have to get changed.” 

He shot Clover a panicked look, as if she should’ve known why he wasn’t getting dressed. When she didn’t react with more than a confused look he dropped his hands in defeat, “Darling I can’t, at least, not in front of Aria here.”

“Why not?” The two women asked simultaneously, Clover’s being more nonchalant than Aria’s. Said women exchanged a pleasant look of surprise when they realized what they’d done. 

“I’m, uh, I’m not-”

“JULIAN! Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?” Clover exclaimed, causing Aria to jump. He rested an arm on the fireplace mantle next to him on his left, raising an eyebrow and forming his trademark smirk. 

“I might be.”

“Julian, now is not the time. What made you think-”

“I wasn’t aware I’d be undressing in front of anyone other than you, or being undressed by anyone other than myself.” He interrupted. Pushing himself to stand straight and crossing his arms over his chest, “Besides, it’s not like I had a heads up.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Clover let out a disappointed sigh before standing up and walking to stand next to Aria. “Would it help if Aria left?” Julian nodded slightly. “Okay, Aria would you be a dear and grab his outfit? If you left it just outside the door that might work.” 

Aria nodded and left to go fetch Julian’s outfit. Clover crossed her arms and gave Julian a disapproving look, pushing his shirt off his shoulders she shook her head. “What?”

Finally removing him of his top she looked him in the eye, “I’ve seen you wear far less in front of far more. What gives?”

He cast his gaze downward to the floor, ashamed of his thought process behind his plans. “Well, I was hoping we could have a moment alone. After all, we haven’t finished what we started this morning.” Looking back up at her he smiled weakly, “I don’t suppose we could have that moment now, could we?”

Putting her hands on her hips and cocking her head, she looked at him in disbelief. Making her way back to the bed before three sharp knocks grabbed her attention. Clover walked over to the door to grab his new clothes. After handing them to her, Aria stood waiting at the doorway. Throwing the fine cloths at Julian she turned back to Aria, “Is there something you’re waiting for?”

She shook her head and responded, “No, but I must wait for you and his majesty to change so I may escort you to the dining hall.”

“Is this gonna be anything like those dinners with the countess,do you think?” Julian asked, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric of his shirt covering his face as he pulled it over his head, “Or do you think it’ll be even more formal?”

“Her highness mentioned something about wanting to know what you’ve been up to all these years you’ve been missing.” Aria answered peeking her head around Clover to see exactly what Julian was doing. Turning around to see how far along he had come with getting dressed, Clover saw that he had gotten on everything and was fastening the belt. The black and red ensemble was fitting, accentuating the lithe muscling he had along his torso and arms, the neckline was higher than what Julian usually wore but still allowed for a light tuft of chest hair to be seen.

“She isn’t missing much. And I doubt she’d be thrilled about my previous life choices.” He said walking over to the door standing next to Clover and opening it wider. Aria looked him up and down, taking in his appearance, her keen eyes finally landing on his eye patch. Reaching up to take it from his face, just barely reaching the bottom before he grabbed her wrist, preventing her from getting any closer to taking it off. “Let’s keep this on for now.”   
  


“Why?” 

“Aren’t we going to be late for dinner?” Clover asked, successfully distracting them from their current conversation topic. Poising herself before turning to lead the couple down the hall’s until they had reached their destination. Upon entering they were met with the sight of a very long table filled with a variety of dishes spread across it’s expanse. 

Seeing Queen Rosemary seated at the far end of the table with King Alastair at her right, Portia on her left, and Tasya next to Alastair. Finding their seats next to Portia, Julian and Clover sat down. It wasn’t long before Rosemary spoke, “I see that Aria got you in your new clothes in a timely manner.”

“About that-”

“Yes, she did.” Clover interrupted before he could say too much. “It’s a very beautiful ensemble. It compliments his features well.” 

“I’m sure we could make arrangements for you to have a new, more fitting wardrobe for your stay here.” Alastair spoke, implying that she would be staying much longer than she had planned. Clover cleared her throat, and took a drink from the crystalline glass in front of her setting. “Is something wrong, dear?”

“I was just wondering, how long do you think we’ll be here?”

“Well, the assumption is that you’ll be staying for the rest of your lives, Ilya ascends to the throne, finds a suitress or suitor, and the kingdom shall remain in our name. Prospering until the end of it’s days.” Queen Rosemary answered, her gaze moving from Clover to Julian. Taking her wine glass and drinking from it after a servant had filled it up. Her gaze then shifted to behind the two, focusing on Aria. “Is something wrong?”

Turning around to see what the Queen was speaking about she saw a confused look painted across Aria’s delicate features. “I don’t mean to intrude on the conversation, or imply anything negative about our heir,”

“I’ve been framed for murder, I’m sure that whatever you have to say isn’t all that bad.” Julian interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Regardless of that, I don’t feel as though he is suited for the throne, he lacks the basic knowledge of being a monarch.” Aria continued, staying motionless aside from the occasional movement of her head. Clover watched as Rosemary nodded in agreement slightly, pursing her lips in thought. 

“Then I suppose we’ll have to teach him.”


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing they decided he would need to learn was how to properly mount a horse, so naturally they took him to the royal stables. He had changed back into his normal clothes, minus the overcoat, and was currently standing watching Aria bring out a rather tall Fresian. “Are you sure this is necessary?” He asked Queen Rosemary, not taking his eyes off the majestic beast.

“Oh absolutely, if for some reason you need to, you should be prepared to mount at a moment’s notice.” She replied, watching as Aria made final adjustments to the girth of the saddle and lengthened the stirrups. “Do you not have prior knowledge?”

“It’s not that I don’t have prior knowledge, more so that I don’t see how it’s needed.” 

Tasya had scoffed at that lightly, finding it a bit humorous. “And just how do you know how to ride? I was under the impression you were a doctor previous to your arrival here.”

Clover rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed sigh, “Just because he was a doctor doesn’t mean-”

“Ah ah, I think that’s quite enough from you. Why don’t you go and help the stableboys? I’m certain you’d be of much more use there.” Tasya chided, belittling Clover as subtly as she assumed she could. However Julian caught onto what she was saying and gave her a side glance, something of a way to tell her that he heard everything she was saying and didn’t appreciate it. “Or perhaps we should teach Carla how to ride as well? I’m sure she could find it of use as well.”

“I suppose that isn’t too bad of an idea, what do you think Miss Clover?” Rosemary inquired, hoping to hear her thoughts on the matter before she subjected her to something she wasn’t comfortable with. 

“I don’t think-” Julian began before being cut off abruptly by Clover. 

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” She said, hopping on to the back of an Arabian that a nearby stableboy was holding, not hesitating to grab the reins. The sudden action was enough to startle the flighty horse and cause it to take off at a gallop, Clover still situated on it’s back, barely hanging on. 

It didn’t take long for Julian to hop on the Fresian that Aria was holding and take off after her, admittedly with much more coordination and grace. He was too far away for Tasya or Rosemary to yell for him to come back so they waited. 

During the time that they were waiting for the two to return, Portia had come out to join them. “Why are we standing here?”

“Your brother went off after that chambermaid.” Tasya answered, waving a hand dismissively.

“Do you mean Clover?” 

“Yes! That’s the girl, she startled the horse and it took off. So he went off after her.” Portia furrowed her brows in confusion, not fully understanding the series of events and assuming she was missing a detail or two. 

“Tasya, why don’t you like her?” Portia asked, leaning her head to the side in question, hoping for an honest answer.

“Because, she’s not fit for Ilya, she has no knowledge of royal practice, she’s coarse, ungraceful, and if we’re being honest with ourselves, she’s only with him because he pitties her.” Tasya explained. The words rolled around in Portia’s head as she thought back to all of what the two had gone through that she knew of, and if she knew her brother as well as she thought she did, he wouldn’t be with anyone out of pity. She wanted to speak but was stopped before she could get the first words out, “I know, he makes it seem like he loves her but I can assure you he doesn’t. Men are good at that sort of thing, lies and manipulation.”

Rosemary cut the two women off with a wave of her hand as she watched Julian appear over the horizon, the Arabian walking next to the Fresian he was on top of. None of them could see Clover and naturally assumed the worst. Preparing to give their condolences until they saw her head poke around from behind him. 

When they reached the women, Julian hopped off and gave Clover his hand to help her dismount from the tall equine. She seemed a bit disoriented from her rather eventful ride. “Oh my darling Ilya! You’ve returned safely! Your grandmother and I had feared the worst!”

“I just kinda assumed you’d left and I was gonna have to become the queen.” Portia shrugged. She walked over to help make sure Clover was okay. “Any cuts? Bruises? No broken bones?” 

“Nothing worse than what-” Clover began before Julian cut her off by clearing his throat rather loudly. She giggled as a result and the three of them walked over to the two older women. “You didn’t worry too much while we were gone did you?”

“Of course not dear, we are well aware that Ilya can handle himself and naturally we assumed you could as well.” Rosemary answered, motioning for the group to follow her back to the castle. 

“After all, why wouldn’t a lowly chambermaid know how to protect herself?” Tasya remarked. 


End file.
